


Reunited in the Force

by MSquared79



Series: Forward into the Light [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Family Drama, Gen, The Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 09:32:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9065998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MSquared79/pseuds/MSquared79
Summary: Padme appears to Vader at critical points in his life.  Will she be able to sway him from the Dark Side?





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first part in a series of loosely connected stories, including, as of now, "The Ghosts" and "The Legacy". There is more forthcoming.
> 
> This first part takes place after the Emperor’s message to Vader in the DVD version of the scene in “Empire Strikes Back.” I chose that one because I think that this in the first time Vader learns he has a son. He seemed rather shocked to hear about a child of Anakin Skywalker. I also added a little bit to reflect the Blu-Ray edition of Episode Six.

 

Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker had died shortly after giving birth to the twins of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.  She was not there physically to be with her children.  She could not give them much, only life.  However she was able to pass on other traits to Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.  Her daughter unknowing followed her footsteps into politics, becoming a Galactic Senator at a young age.  She was just as headstrong and determined as her mother had been.  To her son, the gift was one he received much later, but it was equally powerful.  Padme passed on a belief to him, one that would ultimately lead to a prophecy coming true.  She passed on her belief that there was still good in her beloved husband, who had become the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.

Though she was not there with her family, the Force had allowed her to appear to them for brief times.  Leia had seen her once, when she was very young.  She had visited Luke when the child was asleep in his bed on Tatooine.  However, Padme had never tried to appear to Anakin.  The cloak of the Dark Side had made it nearly impossible for her to reach him.  She could see him, and she screamed in the silence of death at his crimes.  But, one day, twenty-two years after her death, after she had last spoken with him, before the awful battle he had engaged in with his Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, that cloak around him dropped enough, and she was finally able to reach out to him, as she yearned to do for so long.

 

* * *

 

The Emperor’s hologram blinked out and Darth Vader absorbed his words.   _ The son of Anakin Skywalker! _  It was impossible, the Dark Lord thought.  Padme had died and the child along with her!  Yet, as he searched, with the aid of the Force, he saw the truth.  He had a son, one who was as powerful as he was.   _ This could work to my advantage, _ Vader thought.   _ Yes, I will turn him, and together, we will rule the galaxy! _

He turned around and saw a shimmering being standing to the side.  Her dark hair was in an elaborate up-do, and her gowns were long and full.  For a moment, he could not tell who she was, but then he gasped.  “Padme!”

She stood there just staring at him.  Then she turned away.

“Please, wait!” he called, his voice losing the heavy, deep effect of the mask.  It sounded strange to him, as it sounded so long ago, when he was young and reckless and…human.  “Why are you here?”

“The Force needs me to be here for you.  You are at a crucial turning point, Ani.  If you follow the one you are on, you will not be able to be saved.  But there is that chance.”  She walked over to him, took his physical hands in her ethereal ones.  “I know there is still good in you.  So does our son.  Please, this is not the man you wanted to be.  You are the Chosen One.  The one who will bring balance to the Force.  You must turn away from this path.”

Vader made a sound that, without the breath mask, may have resembled a snort.  “I am powerful.  I sit at the right hand of the Emperor.  He is evil, yes.  But together, our son and I can destroy him.”

She shook her head.  “If you destroy him, you will become him.  Please, listen to your heart.”  She stepped away.  As she began to fade, her voice carried.  “Ani, I have always loved you.  Even now, I still do.  I will be here for you, should you need me.”  With that she vanished.

Two voices now warred within his head.  One said that he was right, that he must make his son join him to destroy the Emperor.  Another begged him to listen to the wise words of his wife, his angel, who, it seemed, still looked down upon him.  He strode out of the room, his decision made. 

 

* * *

Vader stood, hidden in a control room, waiting for Luke.  His son was powerful!  If Obi-Wan had not trained him, then who had it been?  It mattered not, in the long run.  Vader himself would complete the boy’s training.

“Anakin, do not do this.  He is your hope, your salvation.  You must not destroy him,” the voice of Padme called out.

He chose to ignore it.

 

All of a sudden, Luke found him and the battle continued along the gantry.    They continued to clash lightsabers when, in an instant, Vader’s red blade slashed off Luke’s hand.  Luke fell out onto the end, staring up at Vader.  Vader looked at him as he  _ felt _ Padme staring in horror at him from behind.  “There is no escape.  Don’t make me destroy you."

“I will never join you!” he shouted back in defiance.

“If you only knew the power of the Dark Side.”  Then a thought occurred to Vader.  “Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father?”

“He told me enough,” Luke shouted back.  “He told me you killed him.”

Vader could sense what the ghost of his wife was thinking. He opened himself up to her.  She was behind him, crying, “No, Anakin, please, no.  Don’t do this.  You will destroy him.”

He ignored her whimpering and looked at his son.  “No.   _ I  _ am you father.”

Feeling his wife and son look at him with mutual horror made him feel invincible.  He saw this denial in his son’s face, the abject dread in his wife’s essence.  If Padme were alive, she and Luke you have been in perfect harmony, as they both screamed “NO!” 

Luke continued his denials, as Vader implored him to first, search his feeling, then, to join him in ruling the galaxy together.  Now, though, he heard Padme calling to her son to get away, escape somehow.  As if sensing his mother’s pleas, he let go of the gantry and plunged into the abyss below him.  Vader watched him fall, and then turned around to return to his ship.  As he left, Padme followed.

“You will never convert him, Vader.  He would rather die than join you.”  He realized this was the first time she had ever referred to him by his Sith name.  He knew that it had been said in anger, as she fell back on her old tactics.  “Anakin, please stop this.  There is still good in you, I can feel it.  Please follow it.”  He ignored her as he returned to his ship.  

__

* * *

From where her spirit stood, in the bog of Dagobah, Padme could feel her son’s heart breaking.  First, he learned the truth about her beloved Anakin from aged Master Yoda.  Then, the old Jedi Master had died.  It was left up to Obi-Wan Kenobi to confirm the story and fill in the details for Luke.  Then, though, her heart swelled with pride, as he explained to his, and his father’s former master, that there  _ was  _ still good in Vader.  Kenobi denied, as he had years before, but Luke remained insistent.  Obi-Wan then had to confirm another suspicion of Luke’s:  the truth about Leia.  It was so much for her son to handle that she feared for him.

As the ship departed, Obi-Wan looked over to see the former Senator from Naboo watching the ship’s trajectory.  He walked over to her.  

“My Lady, you do have a fine son…and daughter.  They are a credit to their mother.”  

“And their father, as well, Master Kenobi,” Padme replied.

Obi-Wan let out a tired sigh.  “I tried, all those years ago.  But he had wrapped himself up in the darkness too tightly for me to reach him.  I am sorry, Senator.”

“Luke senses it in Anakin.  There is still goodness there.  There is still light.  Even I can sense it, and I have no strong connection to the Force.  Why is it that neither you or Master Yoda can sense it?”

“Hard to see through the darkness, it is,” another voice joined in the conversation.  “Unique connection you have to Anakin, we admit.  Unable to see the Darkness yourself, you are,” Yoda said as he appeared.

A third voice floated in, in defense of Padme.  “It is the will of the Force that led her here.  There was a connection between them, from the first time they met,” Qui-Gon Jinn’s disembodied voice replied.  “My Lady, you are right.  Keep that faith you hold in him, and someday, you will be together again.”

Yoda, even in death, looked pensively into the distance.  “Listen to Qui-Gon I have, for many years.  Wiser in the Force he was more so than we first believed.”  Yoda looked at Obi-Wan, then off into the distance.  “Have faith in Luke and Anakin we must.”  

 

* * *

Luke stared off into the distance.  There was so much to absorb.  Then, he felt two presences in the Force.  The first was Darkness, the same that lurked in his father.   _ Vader is on the planet.   _  Then, a soothing feeling came over him, as if a balm had been applied to a wound.  It was Leia.   _ His sister.   _ She knew something was wrong, and he realized that she may be the last hope for the Rebellion, should anything happen to him.  He looked into her eyes, and confessed a sin he knew he was blameless in:  that Darth Vader was his father.  She was shocked, of course.  In that moment, there felt like there was someone else their, giving him strength as he continued in his tale.

“Leia, the Force is strong in my family.  My father has it, I have it and…my sister has it.”  He saw the look in her eyes.  If there was any pain, she, too, was being comforted by this mysterious essence.  He did not sense any denial, as he himself had felt.

Leia seemed to stumble in her words, but she also saw the truth in those words.  “I know…Somehow, I’ve always known.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders.  “Then you know why I must go.”

Then reply came vehemently.  “No, Luke, no.  Run away, far away.  If he can feel your presence than go.  I wish I could go with you.”

He shook his head.  “No you don’t.”

Leia began to weep.  “But why must you face him?”

Luke merely shrugged.  “Because, there is still good in him. I’ve felt it.  The Emperor hasn’t driven it from him fully.  I can bring him back…to the good side.”  With that, he kissed he on the cheek and left.

Padme now knew her daughter’s heart was breaking.  Vader was her father and Luke her brother.  For the first time, Padme cursed her spirit, wanting only to take Leia in her arms and comfort her.  Instead, she could only stand and watch.  Silently, she called on the Force to bring someone to comfort her daughter.  It came in the being of the Corellian General, Han Solo.  For a minute, his misplaced jealousy nearly made him leave, but Leia flung herself into his arms, and he just stood there, dumbfounded, but comforting.

 

* * *

Darth Vader watched as the storm troopers took his son away.  Soon, they would be before the Emperor.  Together, they would force Luke to join them in Darkness.  Vader still hoped that Luke could help him destroy the Emperor.  He turned away, for a moment unsure if this was what he truly wanted.  A melodic voice came to his ears.  

“There is still goodness in you, Ani.  I can sense it right now.  You cannot go through with this,” the voice of Padme called out.

Vader turned and saw his wife’s spirit.  “It is something I must do.  There is nothing that I can stop.  It is his destiny.”

“No.  It is the destiny of Anakin Skywalker to bring balance to the Force.  If you go through with this, the scales will be further off.”  She took his hands in hers.  “Qui-Gon had faith that you were the Chosen One.  As does Yoda and Obi-Wan have now.”

“Obi-Wan is dead.  I saw to it myself,” Vader said.  A thought occurred to the Dark Lord.  “So, it is Yoda who complete his training.  By your tone, I take it that he is dead as well.”

It was Padme’s turn to look away.  “Luke is so like you.  Because of his impatience, he never completed his training when he faced you on Bespin.  When he returned, Yoda was at the end of his life.”  She turned back towards Vader.  “We still have faith in you that you will turn away from the Darkness…Yoda, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.”  As she faded away, he heard her call to him.  “Now all you need is the faith in yourself.”

 

* * *

 

Padme stood in the line of sight between her husband and son, and Palpatine.  It was as if she was trying to protect them from the evil that she had enabled.  Luke was boldly proclaiming that he would destroy the Emperor and that his father was still good.  The former Nubian Senator just smiled wickedly, provoking the young Jedi’s rage.  Luke held off for as long as he could but then, not taking it any more, called for his lightsaber and brought it down on the Emperor’s head.  Vader’s blade saved his Master from his son’s.  Then the two began to circle each other.  After a few minutes, Luke sensed something, as Padme did through the Force.

Luke spoke.  “There is still good in you.  I sense.  You couldn’t destroy me before and you will not now.”

Vader was angry and threw his saber at Luke, where it cut off a beam Luke was standing on.  Luke slid under the risers where the throne was.  Vader followed him underneath, sensing him through the force.  He called to his son, “Give yourself to the Dark Side.  It is the only way to save your friends.  Ah, yes.  Your feelings for them are strong, especially…sister.”  In that instant, Vader saw Padme in the shadows.  She was begging him to leave their daughter out of this, weeping that he had discovered her remaining secret.  Vader ignored her cries.  “So, you have a twin sister.  Obi-Wan was wise to hide her too.  Now, his failure is complete.  If you will not turn to the Dark Side, then perhaps she will.”

Vader had at last discovered Luke’s breaking point.  He knew it and Padme did as well.  She turned toward her son as he rushed his father, pleading with him to stop, calling to him that he was falling into the darkness.  Her pleas were useless.  Luke attacked Vader, with onslaught after onslaught of blows with his lightsaber.  Vader fell back, again and again, unable to even defend himself in the end when Luke slashed down and severed his father’s hand at the wrist.  

Only then did he stop, as the Emperor descended the stairs towards father and son.  From within the Force, Padme seethed.  This was what Palpatine had wanted from the moment he had urged the Trade Federation to blockade Naboo all those years ago.  He wanted an all-powerful ally in the Dark Side.  Her Ani had done well for the time being, even in his gravely injured state.  Now, the Emperor had set his sight on her son.   

Yet, Luke stopped, realizing what was happening.  He turned to the Emperor, throwing aside his lightsaber.  “I’ll never turn to the Dark Side.  You’ve failed, your highness.  I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”

Padme smiled at him, seeing his resolve set in.  Palpatine, however, glared at him, sensing his decision was final.  “So be it, Jedi,” he spat at him.  Before anyone could react, lightning flew from his hands, thrashing Luke about the floor.  

Vader, as wounded as he was, stood next to his Master.  Padme saw her chance.  “Anakin, stop him!  He’s killing our son!  Ani, please.”

Vader heard her, she could sense.  More importantly, she realized that  _ Anakin  _ could hear her!  He looked from Luke to the Emperor, as his Master continued his rant.  “Only now, in the end, to you realize the power of the Dark Side.  You have paid for your lack of vision.”

Padme was feeling ill herself, as she realized her connection to the Force was weakening as Luke was.  He was dying.  Padme continued with her pleas.  “Anakin, this man destroyed your life.   _ Our lives!  _ Don’t let him do this to our son!  You can save him.”

Luke was nearly dead on the floor as Palpatine concluded, almost in a whisper, “Now, young Skywalker.  You will die.”  More lightning flew from his hands.

Padme tried one last time, as her essence dulled even further.  “Please, Anakin, please.  Save our son.”  For a moment, she swore she saw her husband young again, whole.  Then, it happened.

Vader made his decision.  He was unable to bear the pain his son was going through.  He felt it in every fiber of his being, even stronger through the Force.  “No,” he growled softly  He moved behind the Emperor, picking him up as best he could, pinning his arms to his side.  “NOOOOO!”  He then hurled the Emperor into the shaft below, collapsing as he did.  Palpatine fell, sparks still emanating from his hands.  

Luke managed to get up in his own weakened state, moving to be with his father.  Padme moved over to them, trying to give them strength.  

The prophecy had come true.  Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One, having brought balance to the Force.  He had treaded both the path of Darkness and Light.  Padme’s heart was bursting with joy, though it was bittersweet.  She realized the price he had to pay was his own life.  She spoke, trying to sooth him.  “Rest, my darling,” she said through an outflowing of tears.  “Soon we will be together, in the oneness of the Force.”

* * *

Luke carried the nearly dead weight of his father’s body to the hanger bay of the Death Star.  He had nearly fallen a few times, but, it seemed, another presence aided him.  He managed to get to Vader’s shuttle, before finally collapsing.  He tried to pull his father into a sitting position when the former Dark Lord spoke.  “Luke, help me take this mask off.”

Luke looked at his father, the man who had just saved him from the Emperor.  “But, you’ll die,” he said.  

Vader continued.  “Nothing can stop that now.  Just once, let me look on you with my own eyes.”  Luke hesitated just for a minute.  Then he aided his father in removing the breathing mask.  As Luke finally lifted it off his father, Anakin looked up at his son…and his wife.  Luke was near tears, but Padme was smiling, just as she was that day they met, so long ago in Watto’s shop in Mos Espa.  Anakin finally felt at peace. He was going to die, but he would be with his beloved wife.  He looked at his son.

“Now go, my son.  Leave me,” he croaked out.  

“No I won’t leave you.  I have to save you,” Luke insisted

“You already have Luke.  You were right.  You were right about me.”  For an instant, he wanted to add that his son and his wife had been right.  Then another thought occurred to him.  “Tell your sister, you were right.” 

As Luke laid him back onto the ramp and wept, Anakin, unseen to his wife or son, resolved in a bright luminescence behind their solid and ethereal figures.   

Padme was still looking at his prone body, a single tear running down her cheek, when he whispered softly to her, “You were right.”  She turned away from the tableau of father and son, gazing upon the husband she had last seen on Mustafar, so long ago.  He was young again, with wavy hair, a reckless glint in his eyes and pure goodness and light in his heart.  She let out a cry and, touching him for the first time in over twenty years, fell into his embrace.  “Anakin, it is you.  I knew it.  You’ve come back.  You’ve fulfilled your destiny and you’ve come back to me!”  

He picked her up and swung her off the ground.  They embraced each other as they watched their son carry his dead father’s body up into the ship and depart.

 

* * *

All over the galaxy, there was celebration.  The Emperor was dead.  Word spread quickly from Endor to Tatooine, Bespin to Naboo, and finally to Courscant.  Far away from the celebrations, though, a man mourned his father.  As Luke set torch to kindling under his father, two spirits stood and watched, remembering another funeral pyre long ago for a man who had brought them together so long ago.  Anakin and Padme watched as the flames engulfed Vader’s suit, relieved that it was over.

They soon saw their son leave the pyre and join his friends in the celebrations in the Ewok village.  Leia warmly embraced him as she met Luke at the end of the bridge. After receiving congratulations from Han and other, Luke moved off to the side, away from the celebrating.  There he saw Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and…was that his father?  He was a young man again, with a small grin on his face as if to say,  _ I am proud of you.  You did well. _  Leia noticed her brother was missing and moved over to him.  As she urged him to rejoin the festivities, another figure, not as bright as the Jedi but just as good joined the last Knights of the Old Order.  Padme stood there with her husband and friends, watching their children rejoin their friends and comrades.  She looked into Anakin’s deep blue eyes and smiled, laying her head on his shoulder.  He kissed the top of her head, whispering to her, “You did good with them, Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker.”

She picked her head up and looked at him.  “ _ You and I  _ did good, Anakin Skywalker.   _ You and I _ .”


End file.
